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25 (Adele album)
25 is the third studio album by British singer and songwriter Adele. It was released on 20 November 2015, through XL Recordings. Following the release and international success of her second studio album 21 (2011), Adele considered quitting the music industry and going out on a positive note. However, she decided to take a hiatus instead and raise her son. During her sabbatical, she suffered from writer's block and rescheduled studio sessions for a new album, fearing she had lost her ability to write songs. In 2013, Adele had a breakthrough and the material that eventually became 25 manifested, with writing and recording continuing through 2015. Titled as a reflection of her life and frame of mind at 25 years old, 25 is a "make-up record". The album's lyrical content features themes of Adele "yearning for her old self, her nostalgia", and "melancholia about the passage of time" according to an interview with Adele by Rolling Stone, as well as themes of motherhood and regret. In contrast to Adele's previous work, the production of 25 incorporated the use of electronic elements and creative rhythmic patterns, with elements of 1980s R&B and organs. Like 21, Adele collaborated with producer and songwriter Paul Epworth and Ryan Tedder, along with new collaborations with Max Martin and Shellback, Greg Kurstin, Danger Mouse, the Smeezingtons, Samuel Dixon, and Tobias Jesso Jr. 25 received generally positive reviews from music critics, who commended Adele's vocal performance. The album achieved commercial success by debuting at number one in more than 25 markets and broke first-week sales records in multiple countries, including the United Kingdom and United States; in the US, the album sold 3.38 million copies in its first week of release, marking the largest single-week sales for an album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking point-of-sale music purchases in 1991. 25 eventually became the best-selling album of 2015 in the U.S. and U.K. market and has sold over 19 million copies worldwide as of February 2016. Many journalists felt that the album impacted the music industry by encouraging the public to return to buying physical albums, instead of downloading or streaming. Background Following the release of 21 (2011), Adele was considering quitting the music industry all together, stating she thought it was better to "go out on a high." However, in early 2012 she announced she was simply taking a hiatus from music in order to "take time and live a little bit."Kaufman, Gil (3 April 2012) "Adele To Release New Single This Year". MTV. Retrieved 19 October 2012 Her hiatus from music came to an end after the birth of her first child in October 2012, with Adele stating her son inspired her to start recording music again in order for him to "know what I do." Before the albums' recording came under way, Adele made a conscious decision not to try and create another 21 and would not make another "heartbreak record". Before the albums writing sessions began Adele bought a new note pad, something she does in the early stages of all her albums and wrote her age on the front; 25, the pad would be were Adele would go onto write the album. Prior to the album's release, 25 was listed as one of the most anticipated albums of 2015. Billboard, Fuse, SMH and numerous others placed the album at number one on their list, with the latter stating "if Adele releases her third album in 2015, she could dominate the year." Prior to the album's official announcement, music journalists and fans speculated that the album would be titled 25 continuing the age theme from Adele's previous releases 19 and 21. On the eve of her 26th birthday in May 2014, Adele posted a message via her Twitter account which prompted media discussion about her next album. The message, "Bye bye 25... See you again later in the year," was interpreted by outlets including Billboard and Capital FM as meaning that her next album would be titled 25 and released later in the year. Recording Writer's block On 10 February 2013, she confirmed that she was in the very early stages of her third album and was having meetings while staying in Los Angeles for the Oscars. Initially recording sessions for 25 were unsuccessful, in which Adele suffered from writer's block. Adele rescheduled the album's recording stating she did not feel "ready", but returned to the studio when her son was eighteen months old, which inspired her to write an album about motherhood. In an interview on BBC One, it was revealed that a whole album about being a mother was written and scrapped because she thought the material was "too boring." Adele stated that the album took a long time to write, saying she didn't think the album was ever going to be finished, continuing to state the process was long. During the initial recording Adele ran out of ideas and lost the ability to write songs, but her team encouraged her to go back to the drawing board and keep writing. After what seemed like a very arduous process to the singer, who feared she may have lost the inspiration for her writing, the material that eventually became 25 manifested. Adele attempted to write 25 numerous times, but struggled, after taking time off due to motherhood Adele returned to the studio but stated she was not ready to start writing. She then went on to take more time off repeating this process "a couple of times". In 2013, Adele began recording once again, contacting friend and producer Kid Harpoon. Adele and Harpoon went to his recording studio, however the session was unproductive with Adele stating "I don't know why I wasn't ready, I just couldn't access myself." A few months passed and Adele traveled to New York to begin working with long time collaborator Ryan Tedder, the sessions with Tedder were also unfruitful. However Adele did use one of the songs from the sessions entitled "Remedy", which was written about her best friend, her grandparents, her boyfriend, and her son. Adele was excited by the song and believed she was finally creating music that she liked and felt confident about. After recording the song along with others she flew producer Rick Rubin to the studio who was displeased with the songs that she had written, and encouraged Adele to go back to the "drawing board." Breakthrough sessions Adele continued to suffer with writers block, until she met with producer Greg Kurstin. During the meeting with Kurstin, Adele had a "breakthrough" stating that when she worked with Kurstin "it all poured right out of me". "Hello" was written by Adele and Greg Kurstin and produced by the latter, who also played bass, guitar, piano and keyboards, with Adele being credited as a drummer. "Hello," was written in Chiswick, London, something not normally done by Adele, who said she likes to write her music at home. During the album's recording Adele traveled to Los Angeles in order to give the recording sessions "one last push", during her time in Los Angeles she re-recorded her vocals for "Hello". During the sessions in Los Angeles she also wrote "When We Were Young" alongside Tobias Jesso Jr., the track was written at a rented house where Adele used Philip Glass' piano. After unfruitful sessions with Ryan Tedder, the pair went to lunch where Adele heard Taylor Swift's single "I Knew You Were Trouble". Tedder informed Adele that the song was produced by Max Martin, and sent her clips of his work. Shorty after this, Adele began work on the track "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)", where she wrote the skeleton of the song when she was thirteen years old which was inspired by Amy Winehouse. Kurstin also co-wrote and produced the song "Million Years Ago", the song was not set to be included on the record, but was added three days prior to the album's mixing. Scrapped tracks Adele co-wrote a song entitled "Alive" alongside Tobias Jesso Jr. and Sia Furler. Initially written for 25 along with two other tracks, Adele decided not to record any of the three songs. Following Adele's decision, Sia asked her permission to "pitch" the track to Rihanna which Adele agreed to as long her vocals were taken off the record stating "I don't want my vocal floating around out there on a demo." Furler eventually recorded it herself for her seventh studio album This Is Acting (2015). Release and promotion A release date for 25 was first suggested in early August 2014, when Paul Moss suggested that an album would be released in 2014 or 2015. However, accounts filed by Adele's label XL Recordings in October 2014 ruled out the possibilities of a 2014 release. In August 2015, Billboard reported that Adele's label had intentions of releasing her third studio album sometime in November 2015. In October 2015, the album was rumoured to be released on 20 November 2015, after which numerous journalists speculated that other musicians had pushed back their albums in order to avoid chart competition with her, with artists such as Justin Bieber, 5 Seconds of Summer and One Direction releasing their albums before Adele's, so that their sales and chart placements would not be affected. On 18 October, a 30-second clip of "Hello" was shown on UK television during a commercial break on The X Factor. It teased a new song from Adele after three years, with viewers hearing her singing the first verse of "Hello" with its lyrics appearing on a black screen. Three days later, Adele released a letter to her fans through social media addressing the album, in which she confirmed that the album would be titled 25. Adele stated that the title is a reflection on her age and the frame of mind she was in during that age, describing the time as a "turning point" where she was in the centre of adolescence and adulthood and the start of a time where she would "go into becoming who I’m going to be forever without a removal van full of my old junk." Adele confirmed the next day 25 would be released on 20 November 2015, and revealed its cover simultaneously on Facebook and Twitter. On 27 October, BBC One announced plans for Adele at the BBC, a one-hour special presented by Graham Norton in which he will talk to Adele about her new album. The show will be recorded before a live audience on 2 November and transmitted later on BBC One, but an airdate is yet to be confirmed. It was also announced that the singer would make an appearance on the US entertainment series Saturday Night Live on 21 November. Singles On 23 October 2015, "Hello" was released as the album's lead single and was made available for purchase and streaming, with its music video released on the same day. Track listing | collapsed = no | writing_credits = yes | extra_column = Producer(s) | title1 = Hello | writer1 = | extra1 = Kurstin | length1 = 4:55 | title2 = Send My Love (To Your New Lover) | writer2 = | extra2 = | length2 = 3:43 | title3 = I Miss You | writer3 = | extra3 = Epworth | length3 = 5:49 | title4 = When We Were Young | writer4 = | extra4 = Ariel Rechtshaid | length4 = 4:51 | title5 = Remedy | writer5 = | extra5 = Tedder | length5 = 4:05 | title6 = Water Under the Bridge | writer6 = | extra6 = Kurstin | length6 = 4:00 | title7 = River Lea | writer7 = | extra7 = Danger Mouse | length7 = 3:45 | title8 = Love in the Dark | writer8 = | extra8 = Dixon | length8 = 4:46 | title9 = Million Years Ago | writer9 = | extra9 = Kurstin | length9 = 3:47 | title10 = All I Ask | writer10 = | extra10 = The Smeezingtons | length10 = 4:32 | title11 = Sweetest Devotion | writer11 = | extra11 = Epworth | length11 = 4:12 | total_length = 48:25 }} | collapsed = yes | writing_credits = yes | extra_column = Producer(s) | title12 = Can't Let Go | writer12 = | extra12 = Perry | length12 = 3:18 | title13 = Lay Me Down | writer13 = | extra13 = }} | length13 = 4:30 | title14 = Why Do You Love Me | writer14 = ;Note *Credits adapted from iTunes metadata and the booklet of Target's bonus tracks edition. References Category:2015 albums Category:Adele albums Category:XL Recordings albums Category:Columbia Records albums